Mole Man is a 2017 documentary film about Ron Heist, a 66-year-old autistic man who spent the preceding five decades building a 50-room structure in his parents’ backyard. The film was directed by Guy Fiorita and produced by James DeJulio, Cassidy Hartmann and Nicholas Ferrall.
Production
Mole Man first developed in September 2013 as the winning submission for a pitch competition with Tongal to crowd-source a documentary, and was a co-production between production company White Horse Pictures, content creation platform Tongal, and Archer Gray.
Release
Mole Man debuted at DOC NYC on November 10, 2017 as a finalist for the Viewfinders Grand Jury Prize, and later won Best Documentary at the 2018 Pittsburgh Independent Film Festival. The film later became available on SundanceNow through video-on-demand in spring 2019.
In a review of the film, New York-based film critic John Fink wrote "Mole Man is a fascinating, warm and, occasionally heartbreaking film."
Legacy
Ron passed away in March, 2023 at the age of 72.
In 2026, nearly ten years after the release of the film, Mole Man reached new audiences through content creator Christie Boschman, known as That Documentary Girl, who recommended the documentary to an audience of thousands. The renewed interest in the film led to interviews with director/writer/editor Guy Fiorita revisiting the documentary, discussing Ron's life after the events of the documentary and the film's lasting impact.